Payment powerhouse on the benefits of starting a business during times of chaos

It's better to start a business when everyone is in chaos  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  VIEW IN BROWSER | SUBSCRIBE FRI, JUL 17, 2020 TECH, TRANSFORMATION AND THE FUTURE OF WORK EDITOR'S NOTE Think a friend or colleague should be getting this newsletter? Share this link with them to sign up. The strangest take of the week: it may be better to start a business when everyone is in chaos. During Wednesday's Technology Executive Council event, Square co-founder Jim McKelvey spoke about innovation and growth during these challenging times. With a unique perspective, he said: "If the whole world is thrown into chaos ... then it's not as bad relatively for you ... I'm not saying that pandemics are a great time to start a business because it's chaos, but starting something that is new is going to be chaos anyway, and it's sort of better if everybody else is in chaos, as well." And when it comes to new products, his advice: don't try to be 'cool,' let it happen organically. They had a simple idea to simplify point-of-sale solutions for businesses of all sizes. With smart innovation, growth was inevitable. As far as Square goes, the goal from day one was to be "almost so boring as to be invisible." With record highs, having nearly doubled its stock since the stay-at-home surge, it might be a good idea to take a page from Square's book. From schools to workplaces, we're rethinking how the workers of the future will get the skills they need to succeed. But the pandemic has uncovered imbalances: Who benefits and who suffers when learning goes digital? In our next @Work livestream this Thursday July 23, XPRIZE founder and executive chairman Peter Diamandis will share his thoughts on how we can do this right with Jon Fortt. Register here to join us. KEY STORIES It's better to start a business when everyone is in chaos Jim McKelvey, co-founder of Square, offers advice to entrepreneurs thinking of starting a business amid the pandemic This is when major companies say many employees will start coming back to the office Major employers expect that close to 50% of their workforce will be back in the office in September, according to the recent CNBC survey of technology and financial executives. Here's how employers are using tech tools to keep a close watch on their remote workers The coronavirus has accelerated a work-from-home culture in many companies across the U.S. Now companies are buying up software to track the activities of their employees. WATCH NOW Girls Who Code COO on diversity and inclusion in tech space JOIN US REGISTER REGISTER CNBC EVENTS CNBC Events @CNBCEVENTS Unsubscribe Manage Newsletters Terms of Service Join the CNBC Panel   Digital Products Feedback Privacy Policy CNBC Events   © 2020 CNBC LLC. All rights reserved. A property of NBCUniversal. 900 Sylvan Avenue, Englewood Cliffs, NJ 07632 Data is a real-time snapshot *Data is delayed at least 15 minutes. Global Business and Financial News, Stock Quotes and Market Data and Analysis. Data also provided by THOMSON REUTERS